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Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15

🇷🇺 Soviet Union ·first flew 1947· fighter aircraft

🎖️ military jet ✓ still flying
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. MiG-15 RB1: Wikimedia Commons· CC BY-SA 3.0
  2. 2. MiG-15bis: Mike1979 Russia· CC BY-SA 3.0
  3. 3. A right front view of an Egyptian (Soviet built) MiG-15 aircraft parked on a flight line DF-ST-85-03638: SSGT. Bill Thompson· Public domain
  4. 4. Aero-CS-102-UTI-MiG-15-UTI: Museum Pusat TNI AU Dirgantara Mandala, Yogyakarta, Indonesia· CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. 5. Air Zoo December 2019 140 (Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15): Michael Barera· CC BY-SA 4.0
  6. 6. At Kucove this F2 (MiG-15bis) is rotting away in a tunnel. (11278584023): Rob Schleiffert· CC BY-SA 2.0
  7. 7. Letadlo MiG-15bis SB (3255): Martin Salajka· CC BY-SA 4.0
  8. 8. MIG-15UTI-hatzerim-2: No machine-readable author provided. Bukvoed assumed (based on copyright claims).· CC BY 2.5
  9. 9. MiG-15, Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum: John Pavelka from Austin, TX, USA· CC BY 2.0
  10. 10. MiG-15 (52544074366): slezo· CC BY 2.0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Wikimedia Commons· CC BY-SA 3.0

what is it?

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (Russian: Микоян-Гуревич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a single-seat transonic jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate swept wings to perform near Mach 1. In aerial combat during the Korean War, it outclassed straight-winged jet-powered day fighters, which were largely relegated to ground-attack roles.

How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 10.1 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 1,076 km/htop speed
  • size 6,106 kgmax take-off weight
  • built 15,560made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 79 years ago, in 1947.
  • Top speed is 8.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Wingspan of 10.1 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Can fly 1.8× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight
1947-12-30
introduced
1949
retired
2006
status
still flying
number built
15,560
role
fighter aircraft
origin
🇷🇺 Soviet Union
makers
Moscow, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Novosibirsk, Kharkiv, Polish People's Republic, Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association, Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association, Samara, Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center, Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing, Tbilisi, AERO Vodochody Aerospace, Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG, PZL, Ulan-Ude, KhAZ, Saratov Aviation Plant, Sokol
engines
1× Klimov VK-1 / RD-45
crew
1
length
10.1 m
wingspan
10.1 m
height
3.7 m
max take-off weight
6,106 kg
top speed
1,076 km/h
cruise speed
850 km/h
range
—
ceiling
15,500 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q187377, Wikipedia: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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